Got that? Pierce County would be able to trigger a vote on incorporation inside the urban growth boundary, without a petition, without the Boundary Review Board, etc. if this bill is passed.

It looks like South Hill is their first likely target. It has the highest potential revenue for a city. But the south county unincorporated urban area is larger than the City of Tacoma, if you combine it all in one. That puts a huge burden on the County to provide services. The state tax laws are not set up for Counties to provide city services. Even the Growth management Act was designed to encourage incorporations so cities would manage urban densities, not Counties.

So, Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Local Government Committee, a Hearing will be held on this bill, SB6181. Follow that link for more information and to read the bill. You can send in a comment on the link or connect to the hearing remotely.

Here is a News Tribune article on the topic.

City of ________ ? Parkland, Spanaway, Frederickson, Clover Creek, Brookdale, South Hill, Firgrove, Elk Plain, Graham, Midland, Summit, and ___?

Here is the bill:

S-3785.

SENATE BILL 6181

State of Washington                                       69th Legislature                                2026 Regular Session

By Senators Conway and Nobles

Read first time 01/16/26. Referred to Committee on Local Government.

AN ACT Relating to city incorporation; and amending RCW 1 35.02.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 35.02.020 and 1994 c 216 s are each amended to 4 read as follows:

A petition for incorporation must be signed by registered voters resident within the limits of the proposed city or town equal in number to at least ((ten)) 10 percent of the number of voters residing within the proposed city or town and filed with the auditor of the county in which all, or the largest portion of, the proposed city or town is located. Alternatively, the county legislative authority of a county located west of the Cascade mountains with a population of more than 900,000 but less than 2,000,000, by ordinance, may file a petition for incorporation without gathering resident signatures if the area is fully contained within the urban growth boundary, and the population is over 25,000. The petition must be filed with the auditor by no later than ((one hundred eighty)) 180 days after the date the public meeting on the proposed incorporation was held under RCW 35.02.015, or the next regular business day following the ((one hundred eightieth)) 180th day if the ((one 1 hundred eightieth)) 180th day is not a regular business day.

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